John Locke - biography, information, personal life. Social philosophy of John Locke

John Locke is an outstanding philosopher of the 17th century who had a significant influence on the formation of Western philosophy. Before Locke, Western philosophers based their views on the teachings of Plato and other idealists, according to which the immortal soul of man is a means of obtaining information directly from the Cosmos. Its presence allows a person to be born with ready luggage knowledge, and he no longer needed to study.

Locke's philosophy refuted both this idea and the very existence of an immortal soul.

Biography facts

John Locke was born in England in 1632. His parents adhered to Puritan views, which the future philosopher did not share. After graduating with honors from Westminster School, Locke became a teacher. While teaching students Greek and rhetoric, he himself continued to study, special attention focusing on the natural sciences: biology, chemistry and medicine.

Locke was also interested in political and legal issues. The socio-economic situation in the country pushed him to join the opposition movement. Locke becomes a close friend of Lord Ashley Cooper - a relative of the king and the head of the opposition movement.

In an effort to take part in the reformation of society, he gives up his teaching career. Locke moves to Cooper's estate and, together with him and several nobles who shared their revolutionary views, prepares a palace coup.

The coup attempt becomes a turning point in Locke's biography. It turns out to be a failure, and Locke and Cooper are forced to flee to Holland. Here, over the next few years, he devoted all his time to the study of philosophy and wrote his best works.

Cognition as a result of the presence of consciousness

Locke believed that this is the unique ability of the human brain to perceive, remember and display reality. Born baby - blank slate paper, which does not yet have impressions and consciousness. It will be formed throughout life, based on sensory images - impressions received through the senses.

Attention! According to Locke's ideas, every idea is a product of human thought, which appeared thanks to already existing things.

Basic qualities of things

Locke approached the creation of each theory from the position of assessing the qualities of things and phenomena. Every thing has primary and secondary qualities.

Primary qualities include objective data about a thing:

• form;
• density;
• size;
• quantity;
• ability to move.

These qualities are inherent in every object, and focusing on them, a person forms his impression of each thing.

Secondary qualities include impressions generated by the senses:

• vision;
• hearing;
• sensations.

Attention! When interacting with objects, people receive information about them thanks to images that arise from sensory impressions.

What is property

Locke adhered to the concept that property is the result of labor. And it belongs to the person who put in this work. So, if a person planted a garden on the land of a nobleman, then the collected fruits belong to him, and not to the owner of the land. A person should own only the property that he received through his labor. Therefore, property inequality is a natural phenomenon and cannot be eradicated.

Basic principles of cognition

Locke's theory of knowledge is based on the postulate: “There is nothing in the mind that was not previously in the senses.” It means that any knowledge is the result of perception, personal subjective experience.

According to the degree of obviousness, the philosopher divided knowledge into three types:

• initial - gives knowledge about one thing;
• demonstrative – allows you to build conclusions by comparing concepts;
• higher (intuitive) – evaluates the correspondence and inconsistency of concepts directly with the mind.

According to the ideas of John Locke, philosophy gives a person the opportunity to determine the purpose of all things and phenomena, to develop science and society.

Pedagogical principles of raising gentlemen

1. Natural philosophy - it included exact and natural sciences.
2. Practical art - includes philosophy, logic, rhetoric, political and social sciences.
3. The doctrine of signs unites all linguistic sciences, new concepts and ideas.

According to Locke's theory about the impossibility of natural acquisition of knowledge through Space and the forces of nature, a person masters the exact sciences only through teaching. Most people are not familiar with the basics of mathematics. They have to resort to intense mental work over a long period of time to master mathematical postulates. This approach is also true for mastering the natural sciences.

Reference! The thinker also believed that the concepts of morality and ethics are inherited. Therefore, people cannot learn norms of behavior and become full-fledged members of society outside the family.

The educational process must take into account individual characteristics child. The task of the educator is to gradually teach the future gentleman all the necessary skills, which include mastering the entire range of sciences and norms of behavior in society. Locke advocated separate education for children from noble families and children of commoners. The latter had to study in specially created workers' schools.

Political Views

John Locke's political views were anti-absolute: he advocated a change in the current regime and the establishment of a constitutional monarchy. In his opinion, freedom is natural and normal condition individual.

Locke rejected Hobbes's ideas about the “war of all against all” and believed that the original concept of private property was formed among people much earlier than the establishment state power.

Trade and economic relations should be built on a simple scheme of exchange and equality: each person seeks his own benefit, produces a product and exchanges it for another. Forcible seizure of goods is a violation of the law.

Locke was the first thinker to take part in the creation of the founding act of state. He developed the text of the constitution for North Carolina, which in 1669 was approved and approved by members of the national assembly. Locke's ideas were innovative and promising: to this day, all North American constitutional practice is based on his teachings.

Individual rights in the state

Locke considered the main legal state to be three inalienable personal rights that every citizen has, regardless of his social status:

1. for life;
2. to freedom;
3. on property.

The constitution of the state must be created with an eye on these rights and be a guarantor of the preservation and expansion of human freedom. Violation of the right to life is any attempt to enslave: violent coercion of a person to any activity, appropriation of his property.

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Religious views

Locke was a strong supporter of the idea of ​​separation of church and state. In his work "The Reasonableness of Christianity" he describes the need for religious tolerance. Every citizen (with the exception of atheists and Catholics) is guaranteed freedom of religion.

John Locke considers religion not the basis of morality, but a means of strengthening it. Ideally, a person should not be guided by church dogma, but should independently come to broad religious tolerance.

This English philosopher did not even suspect that his theory of constitutionalism would inspire American separatists. The French enlighteners Montesquieu and Rousseau adopted his principle of separation of powers, adding judicial power to the legislative and executive powers. John Locke wrote his treatises on government in justification royal power, but the French used it to overthrow their own king. The empiricism that he preached was a protest against Aristotelian scholasticism, which, perhaps, exercised the brain, but did not contribute anything to the development of natural sciences. Thus, John Locke contributed to the technique scientific knowledge, where any postulate must be proven experimentally. “Whatever I write, as soon as I find out that it is not true, I will immediately throw it into the fire.”

Early years

The life of John Locke Jr. began shortly before civil war in England, caused by the revolution. John Locke Sr. was a country lawyer. The empiricist philosopher was born into a Puritan family on August 29, 1832. Representatives of this Christian sect moved en masse to overseas colonies, hoping to find the promised land there, but then a revolution broke out. Many Puritan Protestants enlisted in Oliver Cromwell's revolutionary army. Some of them did good military career. So was Locke’s father, who ended his career as a warrior with the rank of captain of the parliamentary cavalry.

In 1846, under the patronage of his father's commander, John entered the best educational institution England of those times - Westminster School. His studies continued at Oxford University, where the best student entered the school in 1652. John Locke becomes a bachelor and then a master of this university. Best students- the first traitors. Fed up with scholasticism, Locke experiences disappointment. This is not where real knowledge lies. He tries his hand at medicine, participating in the experiments of physicist and theologian Robert Boyle. Scientific discoveries Locke did not, but this knowledge was enough to take up healing.

In 1667, he was invited as a house doctor and tutor to the son of Lord Ashley. The future founder of the Whig party (supporters of a constitutional monarchy) owed his life to Locke. The future Earl of Shaftesbury was in danger of a festering cyst. Lord Ashley notices that in front of him is not only an intelligent doctor, but also an interesting interlocutor, albeit an absolutist. The lord gathered the smartest people, communication with whom turned out to be a second university for Locke. Here he becomes acquainted with the latest clinical methods and becomes a philosopher. Lord Ashley does political career and pulls behind him a capable protégé.

Lord Ashley understood that English prosperity depended on trade and religious tolerance. Let everyone believe what they want by participating in economic life countries. An absolute monarchy prevents the growth of citizens' economic initiative, which means it must be limited. Under the influence of his liberal ideas, the philosophy of John Locke was formed, which substantiated the emerging order in England. At Lord Ashley's estate he writes his "Epistle on Tolerance."

These were fun times, so Locke, without hiding at all, wrote a draft constitution for the province of Carolina. If only he knew how this game of free expression of the will of citizens would end. In 1668, Locke was elected a member of the Royal Society for the Advancement of Natural Knowledge. His sphere of interests is wide: medicine, natural science, politics, pedagogy. The Restoration in England makes him an exile. Locke lives and works from 1663 to 1689 in Holland, where the English bourgeois revolution was maturing. As you know, it ended with the accession of a new, constitutional king, William of Orange.

Fundamentals of the rule of law

Locke did not participate in the conspiracy, but he is considered one of the founders of the new political system of Britain. Returning to his homeland, he published “Two Treatises on Government,” justifying the reign of King William. His idea of ​​a social contract overthrew the Catholic dogma that the monarch was chosen by God. Any ruler sits on the throne insofar as the people want it. He enters into an agreement with these people, pledging to listen to their opinions expressed by members of parliament. The king cannot do as he pleases, is limited in his desires and acts in accordance with the people's representatives. Today it seems banal and understandable to us, but at the end of the 17th century everything was completely different. Peter the Great, who visited England around this time, did not understand anything about the political structure of this country. He was interested in the technical achievements of the West, but not in freedom and religious tolerance.

People have the right to rebel if the king does not fulfill the terms of the treaty concluded with him. “Two Treatises,” written while the philosopher was still in England, helped his compatriots cope with excessive conservatism. The overthrow of the Stuarts and the accession of a new dynasty was fully consistent with the idea of ​​a crowned servant of the people. Speaking about tolerance (tolerantia, as it is written in the original title), he does not at all preach absolute freedom. Catholics and atheists have no place on English soil. The first are traitors a priori, since their ruler sits in the Vatican, and the word of an atheist cannot be trusted. The subject of his thoughts was the relationship between church and state. Since faith is a personal matter for everyone, no religious organization should claim a special role in the state, concern for the morality of citizens and participation in education. It was the Anglican Locke who came up with the idea of ​​the separation of church and state.

Locke's ideas, one way or another, are dissolved in all modern constitutions, starting with the US Declaration of Independence. It was he who postulated the rights of citizens, the inviolability of private property, freedom of speech and religion, the rule of law, the sovereignty of the state, the sacred right to life and popular representation. Looking around the distant past, Locke creates a (quite religious) concept of a kind of golden childhood of humanity. In the state of nature, freedom and equality reigned, and the laws of nature gave man peace and security. Jean-Jacques Rousseau, inspired by this idea, will come up with the myth of the good savage, bearer of lost modern man virtues. Anthropological scientists have studied the customs of savages quite well, which have nothing in common with Rousseau’s fantasies. However, to this day the cute cannibalistic habits of African tribes evokes affection.

Methods of raising a gentleman

A baby is a blank sheet of paper (“tabula rasa”, as the philosopher puts it), on which parents and teachers write his destiny. The overwhelming number of people became who they are entirely thanks to their upbringing. The example and environment in which a child grows up are the main educational means. The interest and curiosity of children lies at the basis of their correct development. John Locke formulates the principles of educating a gentleman, which, by and large, underlie modern pedagogy. A healthy mind resides in a healthy body, the philosopher repeats a quote from the ancients. Hardening, strict regime and physical exercise helps build character and healthy habits. From a young age, a child should be accustomed to mental activity, and religious education contributes to the formation of a correct worldview. Moral education teaches self-restraint and respect for your neighbor, especially your elders. Labor skills are important for representatives of any class, because the highest meaning of any person is to benefit the society in which you live. Mastering crafts will help you get rid of idleness, the mother of all crimes.

Locke prefers “non-violent” methods of implanting knowledge in the heads of young men, advising resorting to the rod in the most extreme cases. Knowledge must be practical and useful. Spelling, reading, arithmetic, geography, history, geometry, accounting, etc. Locke insisted on introducing dance culture into education. The ability to behave in society and natural movements are also among the virtues of a noble person, which is a gentleman. Locke was quite critical of so-called classical education, with its emphasis on ancient languages ​​and Latin sayings. A nation of traders and conquerors cannot maintain a world under their control by quoting Horace and Augustine. The art of fencing and horse riding seems to the philosopher more important than theology and music playing. John Locke is a true son of his pragmatic nation.

Bottom line

John Locke was the first modern thinker. Instead of the sky-high heights of scholasticism, he replaced the utilitarianism of knowledge. Sometimes he went too far, rejecting poetry, music and theology. However, neither poetry nor music can be learned in a mass school. Theology is also the preserve of the elect. The task of education is to become useful to one’s society in that small segment of place and space where a person is placed by Divine providence.

His ideas are dissolved in our world. The values ​​of European civilization, which we proudly contrast with other civilizations, were largely formulated by John Locke. He was an imperialist before last day was an intellectual leader of the Whigs. John Locke - one of the reformers monetary system, which ultimately led to the power of the dollar as the former British colony adopted best practices paper money. There was no place for dogma in his empirical philosophy. This healthy pragmatism, sometimes turning into unprincipledness, is what the Anglo-Saxon community professes to this day.

John Locke's main ideas as an English educator and philosopher are briefly summarized in this article.

John Locke's Main Ideas

Political and state ideas of John Locke briefly

He believed that the state arose as a result of a social contract. In his ideal all people are independent and equal. They act according to the main rule - do not harm the health, life, property and freedom of another person. This is the purpose of creating a state.

The basis of the state is an agreement that is concluded a certain number people to create judicial, legislative and executive bodies. The state doctrine of John Locke is based on the concept of legality that he substantiated: everyone is equal before the law and can act as they wish, if it is not prohibited by law.

The form of the state directly depends on who heads it and who has legislative power. The creation of the state began with it. But it is limited by the law of nature and the public good. Most best shape government, according to the philosopher, is a limited monarchy.

Locke defended the principle of guaranteeing freedom of conscience. The church and the state must exist separately from each other, because these two authorities have different goals and objectives. He proposed dividing state power in order to create a system of interaction between the state and society. The scientist identified 3 types of power:

• Legislative, which specifies how the power of the state should be used. It was created by the people.
• The executive, which monitors the implementation of laws. Its “representatives” are the monarch, the minister and the judges.
• Federal

John formulated the idea of ​​popular sovereignty: the people have the right to control the work of the legislature and change its structure and composition. He gave the king the right to convene and dissolve parliament, the right of veto and legislative initiative.

Locke is considered the founder of liberalism, since he formulated the principles of bourgeois statehood.

John Locke's discoveries in pedagogy

John Locke formulated his thoughts on education based on how his father raised him. He was completely confident that raising a child develops character, discipline and will. But the most important thing is to combine physical education with spiritual development. It manifests itself in the development of health and hygiene, and the spiritual - in the development of dignity and morality.

Locke was the first thinker to reveal personality through the continuity of consciousness. He believed that the mind is a "blank slate", that is, contrary to Cartesian philosophy, Locke argued that people are born without innate ideas, and that knowledge is instead determined only by experience gained by sense perception.

John Locke pedagogical ideas:

• Maintaining discipline, a strict daily routine and eating simple food.
• Use of educational exercises and games.
• Children from the very early age polite manners must be taught.
• A child must do everything that does not contradict morality.
• Children can be punished only in cases of systematic disobedience or defiant behavior.

John Locke's major works- “Essay on Human Understanding”, “Two Treatises on Government”, “Essays on Law and Nature”, “Letters on Tolerance”, “Thoughts on Education”.

We hope that from this article you learned what the main ideas of John Locke are.

Education, law and statehood, which were relevant in the mid-17th century. He is the founder of a new political and legal doctrine, which later became known as the “doctrine of early bourgeois liberalism.”

Biography

Locke was born in 1632 into a Puritan family. Educated at Westminster School and Christ Church College. In college, he began his scientific career as a teacher of Greek and rhetoric. During this period, he became acquainted with the famous naturalist Robert Boyle. Together with him, Locke carried out metrological observations and studied chemistry in depth. Subsequently, John Locke seriously studied medicine and in 1668 became a member of the Royal Society of London.

In 1667, John Locke met Lord Ashley Cooper. This extraordinary man was in opposition to the royal court and criticized the existing government. John Locke leaves teaching activities and takes up residence on Lord Cooper's estate as his friend, companion, and personal physician.

Political intrigues and a failed attempt force Lord Ashley to hastily leave his native shores. Following him, John Locke emigrated to Holland. The main ideas that brought fame to the scientist were formed precisely in emigration. The years spent in a foreign country turned out to be the most fruitful in Locke's career.

The changes that occurred in England at the end of the 17th century allowed Locke to return to his homeland. The philosopher willingly works with the new government and for some time holds important positions under the new administration. The post of responsible for trade and colonial affairs becomes the last in the scientist’s career. A lung disease forces him to retire, and he spends the rest of his life in the town of Ots, on the estate of his close friends.

Trace in philosophy

Basics philosophical essay as "An Essay Concerning Human Understanding". The treatise reveals a system of empirical (experiential) philosophy. The basis for conclusions is not logical conclusions, but actual experience. So says John Locke. A philosophy of this kind was in conflict with the existing worldview system. In this work, the scientist argues that the basis for studying the world around us is sensory experience, and only through observation can one obtain reliable, real and obvious knowledge.

Trace in religion

The philosopher's scientific works also concern the arrangement of religious institutions that existed at that time in England. The well-known manuscripts are “A Defense of Nonconformism” and “An Essay Concerning Toleration,” authored by John Locke. The main ideas were outlined precisely in these unpublished treatises, and the entire system of church structure, the problem of freedom of conscience and religion, was presented in the “Message on Tolerance.”

In this work, the work secures the right of every person to The scientist calls on state institutions to recognize the choice of religion as the inalienable right of every citizen. The true church in its activities, according to the scientist, must be merciful and compassionate towards dissenters; the authority of the church and the teaching of the church must suppress violence in any form. However, the tolerance of believers should not extend to those who do not recognize the legal laws of the state, deny society and the very existence of the Lord, says John Locke. The main ideas of the “Message on Tolerance” are the equality of rights of all religious communities and the separation of state power from the church.

“The rationality of Christianity, as it is presented in Holy Scripture"A late work by the philosopher, in which he affirms the unity of God. Christianity, first of all, is a set of moral standards that every person must adhere to, says John Locke. The philosopher's works in the field of religion enriched religious teachings with two new directions - English deism and latitudinarism - the doctrine of religious tolerance.

Trace in the theory of state and law

J. Locke outlined his vision of the structure of a just society in his work “Two Treatises on Government.” The basis for the essay was the doctrine of the emergence of the state from the “natural” society of people. According to the scientist, at the beginning of its existence, humanity did not know wars, everyone was equal and “no one had more than the other.” However, in such a society there were no regulatory bodies that would eliminate disagreements, resolve property disputes, and administer a fair trial. In order to provide security, they formed a political community - the state. Peace Education state institutions, based on the consent of all people - the basis for creating political system. So says John Locke.

The main ideas of the state transformation of society were the formation of political and judicial bodies that would protect the rights of all people. The state retains the right to use force to protect itself from outside invasion, as well as to monitor compliance with internal laws. John Locke's theory, as outlined in this essay, asserts the right of citizens to remove a government that fails to perform its functions or abuses power.

Footprint in pedagogy

“Thoughts on Education” - an essay by J. Locke, in which he argues that the child has a decisive influence environment. At the beginning of his development, the child is under the influence of parents and educators, who are moral models for him. As the child grows up, he gains freedom. The philosopher also paid attention to the physical education of children. Education, as stated in the essay, should be based on the use of practical knowledge necessary for life in a bourgeois society, and not on the study of scholastic sciences that have no practical use. This work was criticized by the Bishop of Worcester, with whom Locke repeatedly entered into polemics, defending his views.

A trace in history

Philosopher, jurist, religious leader, teacher and publicist - all this is John Locke. The philosophy of his treatises met the practical and theoretical needs of the new century - the century of Enlightenment, discoveries, new sciences and new state formations.

, Wrington, Somerset, England - October 28, Essex, England) - British educator and philosopher, representative of empiricism and liberalism. Contributed to the spread of sensationalism. His ideas had a huge influence on the development of epistemology and political philosophy. He is widely recognized as one of the most influential Enlightenment thinkers and theorists of liberalism. Locke's letters influenced Voltaire and Rousseau, many Scottish Enlightenment thinkers, and American revolutionaries. His influence is also reflected in the American Declaration of Independence.

Locke's theoretical constructs were also noted by later philosophers such as David Hume and Immanuel Kant. Locke was the first thinker to reveal personality through the continuity of consciousness. He also postulated that the mind is a "blank slate", that is, contrary to Cartesian philosophy, Locke argued that people are born without innate ideas, and that knowledge is instead determined only by experience gained by sense perception.

Biography

So, Locke differs from Descartes only in that he recognizes, instead of the innate potencies of individual ideas, general laws that lead the mind to the discovery of reliable truths, and then does not see a sharp difference between abstract and concrete ideas. If Descartes and Locke speak of knowledge in seemingly different language, the reason for this is not a difference in their views, but a difference in their goals. Locke wanted to draw people's attention to experience, while Descartes occupied a more a priori element in human knowledge.

A noticeable, although less significant, influence on Locke’s views was exerted by the psychology of Hobbes, from whom, for example, the order of presentation of the Essay was borrowed. In describing the processes of comparison, Locke follows Hobbes; together with him, he argues that relations do not belong to things, but are the result of comparison, that there are countless numbers of relations, which is more important relationships are identity and difference, equality and inequality, similarity and dissimilarity, contiguity in space and time, cause and effect. In his treatise on language, that is, in the third book of the Essay, Locke develops the thoughts of Hobbes. In his doctrine of the will, Locke is very dependent on Hobbes; together with the latter, he teaches that the desire for pleasure is the only one that runs through our entire mental life and that the concept of good and evil is completely different among different people. In the doctrine of free will, Locke, along with Hobbes, argues that the will inclines towards the strongest desire and that freedom is a power that belongs to the soul, not the will.

Finally, a third influence on Locke should be recognized, namely the influence of Newton. So, Locke cannot be seen as an independent and original thinker; for all the great merits of his book, there is a certain duality and incompleteness in it, stemming from the fact that he was influenced by so many different thinkers; That is why Locke’s criticism in many cases (for example, criticism of the ideas of substance and causality) stops halfway.

General principles Locke's worldview boiled down to the following. The eternal, infinite, wise and good God created a world limited in space and time; the world reflects the infinite properties of God and represents infinite diversity. The greatest gradualness is noticed in the nature of individual objects and individuals; from the most imperfect they pass imperceptibly to the most perfect being. All these beings are in interaction; the world is a harmonious cosmos in which every being acts according to its nature and has its own specific purpose. The purpose of man is to know and glorify God, and thanks to this, bliss in this and in the other world.

Most of the "Experience" now only has historical significance, although Locke's influence on later psychology is undeniable. Although Locke, as a political writer, often had to touch upon issues of morality, he did not have a special treatise on this branch of philosophy. His thoughts about morality are distinguished by the same properties as his psychological and epistemological reflections: a lot of common sense, but no true originality and height. In a letter to Molyneux (1696), Locke calls the Gospel such an excellent treatise of morals that the human mind can be excused if it does not engage in studies of this kind. "Virtue" says Locke, “considered as a duty, is nothing other than the will of God, found by natural reason; therefore it has the force of law; as for its content, it consists exclusively in the requirement to do good to oneself and others; on the contrary, vice represents nothing more than the desire to harm oneself and others. The greatest vice is that which entails the most disastrous consequences; Therefore, all crimes against society are much more important than crimes against a private individual. Many actions that would be completely innocent in a state of solitude naturally turn out to be vicious in the social order.". Elsewhere Locke says that “It is human nature to seek happiness and avoid suffering”. Happiness consists of everything that pleases and satisfies the spirit; suffering consists of everything that worries, upsets and torments the spirit. To prefer transitory pleasure to long-lasting, permanent pleasure means to be the enemy of your own happiness.

Pedagogical ideas

He was one of the founders of the empiric-sensualist theory of knowledge. Locke believed that man has no innate ideas. He is born as a “blank slate” and ready to perceive the world around us through your feelings through internal experience - reflection.

“Nine-tenths of people become what they are only through education.” The most important tasks of education: character development, will development, moral discipline. The purpose of education is to raise a gentleman who knows how to conduct his affairs intelligently and prudently, an enterprising person, refined in his manners. Locke saw the ultimate goal of education as ensuring healthy mind in a healthy body (“here’s a short, but full description happy state in this world").

He developed a system for educating a gentleman, built on pragmatism and rationalism. The main feature of the system is utilitarianism: every item should prepare for life. Locke does not separate education from moral and physical education. Education should consist in ensuring that the person being educated develops physical and moral habits, habits of reason and will. The goal of physical education is to form the body into an instrument as obedient to the spirit as possible; the goal of spiritual education and training is to create a direct spirit that would act in all cases in accordance with the dignity of a rational being. Locke insists that children accustom themselves to self-observation, self-restraint, and self-conquest.

The upbringing of a gentleman includes (all components of upbringing must be interconnected):

• Physical education: promotes the development of a healthy body, courage and perseverance. Health promotion, fresh air, simple food, hardening, strict regime, exercises, games.
• Mental education must be subordinate to the development of character, the formation of an educated business person.
• Religious education should be directed not at teaching children to rituals, but at developing love and respect for God as a supreme being.
• Moral education is to cultivate the ability to deny oneself pleasures, go against one’s inclinations and unswervingly follow the advice of reason. Developing graceful manners and gallant behavior skills.
• Labor education consists of mastering a craft (carpentry, turning). Work prevents the possibility of harmful idleness.

The main didactic principle is to rely on the interest and curiosity of children in teaching. The main educational means are example and environment. Lasting positive habits are cultivated through gentle words and gentle suggestions. Physical punishment are used only in exceptional cases of daring and systematic disobedience. The development of will occurs through the ability to endure difficulties, which is facilitated by physical exercise and hardening.

Learning content: reading, writing, drawing, geography, ethics, history, chronology, accounting, native language, French, Latin, arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, fencing, horse riding, dancing, morality, the most important parts of civil law, rhetoric, logic, natural philosophy, physics - this is what an educated person should know. To this should be added knowledge of a craft.

Philosophical, socio-political and pedagogical ideas John Locke formed an entire era in the development of pedagogical science. His thoughts were developed and enriched by the progressive thinkers of France of the 18th century, and were continued in the pedagogical activities of Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi and Russian educators of the 18th century, who, through the mouth of M.V. Lomonosov, called him among the “wisest teachers of mankind.”

Locke pointed out the shortcomings of his contemporary pedagogical system: for example, he rebelled against Latin speeches and poems that students were required to compose. Training should be visual, material, clear, without school terminology. But Locke is not an enemy of classical languages; he is only an opponent of the system of their teaching practiced in his time. Due to a certain dryness characteristic of Locke in general, he does not devote much attention to poetry. big place in the education system he recommended.

Rousseau borrowed some of Locke's views from Thoughts on Education and brought them to extreme conclusions in his Emile.

Political ideas

• The state of nature is a state of complete freedom and equality in the disposal of one's property and one's life. This is a state of peace and goodwill. The law of nature dictates peace and security.
• Natural law - the right to private property; the right to freedom of movement, to free work and to its results.
• Supporter of constitutional monarchy and social contract theory.
• Locke - theorist of civil society and legal democratic state(for the accountability of the king and lords to the law).
• He was the first to propose the principle of separation of powers: legislative, executive and federal. The federal government deals with the declaration of war and peace, diplomatic issues and participation in alliances and coalitions.
• The state was created to guarantee natural rights (freedom, equality, property) and laws (peace and security), it should not infringe on these rights, it should be organized so that natural rights are reliably guaranteed.
• Developed ideas for a democratic revolution. Locke considered it legitimate and necessary for the people to rebel against a tyrannical government that encroaches on the natural rights and freedom of the people.

He is best known for developing the principles of the democratic revolution. The "right of the people to rise against tyranny" is most consistently developed by Locke in Reflections on the Glorious Revolution of 1688, which is written with an openly expressed intention “to establish the throne of the great restorer of English freedom, King William, to remove his rights from the will of the people and to defend before the world the English people for their new revolution.”

Fundamentals of the rule of law

As a political writer, Locke is the founder of a school that seeks to build the state on the beginning of individual freedom. Robert Filmer in his “Patriarch” preached the unlimited power of royal power, deriving it from the patriarchal principle; Locke rebels against this view and bases the origin of the state on the assumption of a mutual agreement concluded with the consent of all citizens, and they, renouncing the right to personally defend their property and punish violators of the law, leave this to the state. The government consists of men chosen by common consent to see to the exact observance of the laws established for the preservation of the general liberty and welfare. Upon his entry into the state, a person is subject only to these laws, and not to the arbitrariness and caprice of unlimited power. The state of despotism is worse than the state of nature, because in the latter everyone can defend his right, but before a despot he does not have this freedom. Breaking a treaty empowers the people to reclaim their sovereign right. From these basic principles it is consistently deduced internal form state structure. The state gains power:

All this, however, is given to the state solely to protect the property of citizens. Locke considers the legislative power to be supreme, because it commands the rest. It is sacred and inviolable in the hands of those persons to whom it is given by society, but not limitless:

Execution, on the contrary, cannot stop; it is therefore awarded to permanent bodies. The latter are for the most part granted union power ( "federal power", that is, the law of war and peace); although it differs essentially from the executive, yet since both act through the same social forces, it would be inconvenient to establish different organs for them. The king is the head of the executive and federal powers. He has certain prerogatives only to promote the good of society in cases unforeseen by law.

Locke is considered the founder of the theory of constitutionalism, insofar as it is determined by the difference and separation of powers of the legislative and executive.

State and religion

In "Letters on Toleration" and in "Reasonability of Christianity, as Delivered in the Scriptures," Locke passionately preaches the idea of ​​tolerance. He believes that the essence of Christianity lies in faith in the Messiah, which the apostles put in the foreground, demanding it with equal zeal from Jewish and pagan Christians. From this Locke concludes that exclusive privilege should not be given to any one church, because all Christian confessions agree in the belief in the Messiah. Muslims, Jews, and pagans can be impeccably moral people, although this morality must cost them more work than believing Christians. Locke's strongest insistence is on the separation of church and state. The state, according to Locke, only has the right to judge the conscience and faith of its subjects when the religious community leads to immoral and criminal acts.

In a draft written in 1688, Locke presented his ideal of a true Christian community, undisturbed by any worldly relations and disputes about confessions. And here he also accepts revelation as the basis of religion, but makes it an indispensable duty to tolerate any deviating opinion. The method of worship is left to everyone's choice. Locke makes an exception to the views expressed for Catholics and atheists. He did not tolerate Catholics because they have their head in Rome and therefore, as a state within a state, are dangerous to public peace and freedom. He could not reconcile with atheists because he firmly adhered to the concept of revelation, which was denied by those who deny God.

Bibliography

• The same “Thoughts on Education” with revision. spotted typos and working footnotes
• A Study of the Opinion of Father Malebranche...1694. Notes on Norris's books... 1693.
• An experience about human understanding. (1689) (translation: A. N. Savina)

Major works

• A Letter Concerning Toleration ().
• Essay Concerning Human Understanding ().
• The Second Treatise of Civil Government ().
• Some Thoughts Concerning Education ().

• Locke became one of the founders of the “Contractual” theory of the origin of the state.
• Locke was the first to formulate the principle of “Separation of Powers” ​​into legislative, executive and judicial.
• One of the key characters in the famous television series Lost is named after John Locke.
• Also, the surname Locke was taken as a pseudonym by one of the heroes of Orson Scott Card’s series of science fiction novels “Ender’s Game”. In Russian translation the English name " Locke" incorrectly rendered as " Loki».
• Also has the surname Locke main character in Michelangelo Antonioni's 1975 film Profession: Reporter.

Literature

• Zaichenko G. A. Objectivity of sensory knowledge: Locke, Berkeley and the problem of “secondary” qualities // Philosophical Sciences. - 1985. - No. 4. - P. 98-109.

Notes

Links

• John Locke page in the Philosophy and Atheism library
• Locke, John in the Electronic Library of Philosophy
• John Locke's Second Treatise of Government (An Essay on the True Origin, Scope, and Purpose of Civil Government)
• Soloviev E. Locke's phenomenon